There are art instructors (and painters on YouTube) that make painting seem so complicated. Many artists get confused. I get questions from artists around the globe every week asking, “How can I be a better painter.” The information available varies so much and there are so many differing opinions about what it takes to be a better painter.

Sometimes I need to be reminded that making art is manual labor and I need to keep myself strong in order to make it successfully for a long period of time. Maybe that’s something all artists should keep in mind, particularly as we grow older (in our 60’s, 70’s and 80’s).

One of the very best art related compliments I ever received was this: “You’re the only artist I know whose left brain and right brain actually talk to each other.” While most of the artists I know have a balance of both sides of the brain, some are just completely out there. I believe it makes sense to have a good balance between the two hemispheres.

I decided to do things differently in this video. I normally would edit the video to a length of between 4-6 minutes and add music. This time I decided to provide an almost unedited, uncut video showing in real time how long it took to do the painting.

Let me ask you a question: Are you a Shape Maker or a Mark Maker? I fall into the category of Shape Maker, and I hope you do as well. “Mark Making” is an art buzzword that means absolutely nothing. It’s a word/phrase that you’ll never hear me use in an art instruction setting. I want my students to learn how to make shapes, which are the foundation of painting design and creation.

Did you know that every time you make a painting your design skills are on display? Whether the design is good, bad or otherwise the world can see your design skill.

Here are six more small 10x10” practice paintings done on 140lb Fabriano Artistico cold press watercolor paper. I get so much out of painting these small pieces. What was a once in awhile activity has turned into a regular ritual. I used Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Paint, Marabu Art Crayons and Lukas Cryl Acrylic Paint.

In this painting I am continuing my experimentation with muted yellow, black, gray and white. I absolutely love this color combination - which is a bit odd given I have never been a fan of yellow paintings.

This week I thought I would revisit my oldest video on Youtube from 2015. This was the first video on my channel. I have updated the visuals and the music for this version.

This video, and those like it show me practicing my painting skills. These 10x10 studies help me learn to paint quickly, make decisions quickly, paint spontaneously and react to each new color and/or value placed before me.